


changing spots

by Ealasaid, writeyourownstory



Category: 1917 (Movie 2019)
Genre: Drabble Collection, I don't even care I effing love it, M/M, Multi, Non-Linear Narrative, Zoo, cheetah!Will, fml what is life, lion!Ben, other tags as added, why is this my life, zoo!au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26474938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ealasaid/pseuds/Ealasaid, https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeyourownstory/pseuds/writeyourownstory
Summary: Will is a cheetah inneedof a companion animal.  Ben is that companion animal.  Also, it's a zoo and the zookeepers are all very bemused as to why a cheetah and a lion are now best friends.
Relationships: Tom Blake & William Schofield, William Schofield & Lieutenant Richards
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	changing spots

**Author's Note:**

> ???? _why_

When the barrier -- the barrier between him and Ben -- rattles open, Will is through it in a heartbeat. It's not so bad when they're just kept from grooming each other, but not being able to curl up at night is _horrible,_ and they have been separated by the cold/warm/hot blood-tasting barrier for nearly seven sunrises. While the separation has gotten a _little_ easier as the time passed -- they could still exchange greetings and nose at each other, so it's not like the time Will was taken _away_ from the lions -- Will is still ready to crawl under Ben's bulk and _hide_ there.

Ben is ready, meeting him as Will powers out the opening. He's sensible enough not to try pinning Will until they finish stalking a few circles around each other, Will being too nervous to hold still after seven suns' worth of being cooped up in a narrow corridor (okay so he could go to the sleeping cave too, but like. There's nothing in there worth seeing). Plus, Ben still smells all strange from all that time alone with Lydia and Will knows it's Ben, but his scent's a bit off and Will hates it when things are off, he really does.

Just as Will starts winding down, Ben _pounces._ Will doesn't bother getting out of the way (and that skitter to the side is _entirely_ instinct, and something Ben has anticipated and corrected for anyway) and so he lands squarely on top of Will.

Ben growls around the hold he has got on Will's ruff and shakes him like one of those rats that try to sneak in every so often. Will still doesn't know why Ben does this because Ben can't explain it either -- it made the Keepers squawk and flap their paws a lot when they first met -- but it's harmless. And once Will goes limp and purrs, Ben stops and flops on top of him, right where he belongs. 

At this very moment his weight is so amazingly grounding that Will mewls like a kitten and crams himself further under the lion. Ben's growl peters off into that nice grumbly sound that is very, very low and fits so nicely in Will's bones. He relaxes his grip and noses at Will's head and then starts grooming, purring easily thrice as loudly as any cheetah Will has ever met. The drag of his tongue on Will's sensitive ears is _divine._  
  
"I missed you," Will says, plaintive thrumming all down his throat. "I missed you a lot."  
  
Ben hardly pauses in his thorough cleansing. "I know," he rumbles, and settles more firmly atop Will before resuming his activity. "It didn't feel right without you bothering me all day."

"You two are sickening," complains Lydia from where she's sprawled in some sun. "You don't need to constantly be in each other's space, you know."

Will ignores her because Ben's been in _her_ space for the whole bloody span that Will hasn't and is, of course, the reason he and Ben were separated in the first place. He shoves his face under Ben's mane as Ben finishes tidying Will's ears because even though it is day now and Will still wants to _move,_ he also very much wants to get some decent sleep. It will shortly be too hot to stay here anyway; Will can move then. 

**Author's Note:**

>  _still don't know but this lets me sleep at night_ \-- E


End file.
